Have you ever, or do you now, keep a diary? I've lost count over the years how many times I've tried to maintain one. I guess it's my love of history - true history - that inspires me to keep trying.
One of the things that made Ken Burns' The Cival War so wonderful for me to watch was all of the first-hand documentation from the people who had lived it. At the time what they wrote may not have seemed like much to them, but more than one hundred years later it becomes fascinating reading.
And so I have tried to keep diaries and record things that don't seem like much to me. Unfortunately, they seem like so little I easily forget to write them. And I'm such a perfectionist about those things that if I miss a few days in a row I just give it up.
The exception to this rule is my son's diary, which I have maintained for him every day since the day he was born. There are 4,376 entries now. I'll let you do the math to figure out his age.
I have missed a few days, but with the exception of three days seven years ago, I have always been able to make them up. I suppose it comes down to what is interesting and what is important. Generally, filling in his journal is one of the first things I do every day. You would think I could take that opportunity to write about myself, in my own diary. Tried that. It didn't make my life any more interesting to me.
In a way the blogs I keep kind of serve this purpose. They just aren't daily and they don't always reflect what's actually going on.
Which reminds me. I'm working on creating a new blog. This one will force me to draw upon my programming skills - long dormant. About twenty-five or thirty-years ago I had written a software program for myself. I lost it when the tape it was stored on became corrupted. Almost every year since I have tried to rewrite the thing. Never managed it. Came close the one year when I created a version in Excel. That worked nicely. Until a virus struck my computer and I lost everything. But I'm giving it another go, and I've made it further along than I have since that Excel success of a few years ago. If I ever finish it I will have a new blog. How many will that make?
I guess I just like to write.
4 comments:
I'm just amazed at how much you write.
Thanks. It's what I do. Not much good at anything else.
Of course, there are those who say I'm not much good at writing, either.
That was an excellent documentary, both because of the personal writings and the music.
Funny you mention this today. I just threw out a journal filled with quotes and poetry (some mine) from my youth. I started it in high school and kept adding things that interested me through my college years. I've tossed out a journal or two as well. Regretted it later!
Ach! I can't even toss out my fictional stories and poems. Not since high school when I lost two of my favorites.
That being said, I don't have but a few of my diaries anymore. All of those from my high school years are gone.
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